‘Agatha’ Arrives Just as ‘Bluey’ Falters
I’m just going to say it like this. Disney+ needs a hit.
Since last year’s high point of Loki Season 2, a commercial and critical triumph, the streaming service has lacked hits.
Photo: Marvel
Most recently, The Acolyte flat-out bombed.
Fortunately, help is on the way, as we just learned that Agatha Harkness is Disney’s most popular witch since the Sanderson Sisters.
Photo: Lucasfilm
Thankfully, Agatha has arrived just as Bluey flounders.
The Witching Hour
The Walt Disney Company often plays it fast and loose with streaming numbers.
Executives know that investors are skittish and sell their positions at the first sign of trouble.
Families Streaming Disney+
So, Disney+ has adopted the approach of only revealing viewer numbers when they’re great.
We just got Agatha All Along viewer numbers, which should tell you everything you need to know — but I do have questions.
Photo: Roku
Here’s what Disney said. Agatha All Along enticed 9.3 million views during its first week on Disney+. That’s very good, but also somewhat confusing.
When Disney released Loki numbers last October, Season 2 earned 10.9 million views…in its first three days on streaming.
Photo: Marvel
The Acolyte started strong but then quickly collapsed due to shaky word-of-mouth.
That show managed 11.1 million views within its first five days, which is objectively better. However, there’s a catch.
Photo: Star Wars
The show garnered 4.8 million views within its first 48 hours, but only 5.3 million over its next four days.
In Hollywood, we call that frontloading, which The Acolyte most assuredly was.
Photo: Lucasfilm
Agatha All Along appears to be playing differently, although we won’t know specifics for another three weeks.
Nielsen Streaming Service delays its ratings charts for four weeks for reasons passing understanding.
AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 MARVEL.
Their decision pointlessly complicates all these discussions as we cannot compare immediate results.
The Mystery of Agatha
From what I can see, Agatha All Along has started fairly strong given that it lacked the Star Wars name brand or the built-in appeal of Loki as a character.
Still, the curious part is the wording. Disney describes this as how many views the first episode got.
Photo: Empire
As we all know, Agatha All Along released two episodes on its first day.
There’s absolutely no mention of the second episode, which absolutely baffles me and fully triggers my media Spidey sense that something’s up.
Photo: Marvel
On the surface, this sounds like an outstanding debut, but there may be more to the story.
We’ll keep you updated as additional information becomes available.
Photo: Marvel
Right now, Disney+ has explicitly chosen to present only a part of the picture.
So, I’m naturally wondering how many people kept watching after the first episode.
Photo: Marvel
Also, as a shameless plug, I’m recapping all the episodes on our sister site MarvelBlog, which you should read anyway. Justin Hermes does an excellent job updating it daily.
Disney Dominates the Top Ten, But…
If I simply present this week’s Nielsen Charts and Disney’s data as stated, everything looks incredible on their streaming services.
Half of Nielsen’s overall top ten consists of Disney content, starting at the top.
Photo: Disney+
Prison Break, which Hulu shares with Netflix, remains the #1 streaming program, with 1.188 billion viewer minutes.
On a seemingly unrelated note, Hulu is developing a Prison Break reboot. Go figure.
Photo: Disney+
Even so, the dirty secret is that most of these views are happening on Netflix, not Hulu.
Disney also claims third place, though it’s with a Hulu title rather than the expected entrant.
Hulu banners
Family Guy has crossed the 1 billion barrier with 1.005 billion viewer minutes.
That’s a much higher total than Disney’s next selection, Bluey. The adorable Australian Heeler pup has slid to seventh place with 880 million viewer minutes.
Photo: Disney
I recently checked this and Bluey is the most streamed program of the year by a substantial margin; however, it does seem to be slipping a bit in recent weeks.
Hulu’s other chart toppers are Grey’s Anatomy and Bob’s Burgers, which finished ninth and tenth for the week.
Hulu banners
People streamed 742 million viewer minutes of Grey’s Anatomy and 693 million viewer minutes of Bob’s Burgers.
In terms of surprising data, I don’t talk about it much, but the sustained success of Bob’s Burgers doesn’t really track with its conventional television ratings.
Photo: Disney
This is a sleeper hit show that Fox should probably treat better.
Selena Gomez Strikes Back
Disney failed to chart on movies, which is a rarity.
The good news is that Inside Out 2 debuted on September 25th, so the drought is sure to end in four weeks.
Image: Pixar
That’s my way of saying that this column will seem a lot happier in a month when Agatha All Along and Inside Out 2 are charting.
Still, the takeaway is that Moana failed to gain the 212 million minutes necessary to make the movie charts, while something called Untold: Sign Stealer did.
Photo: Netflix
This proves once again that people will watch literally anything on Netflix.
Disney does have plenty of good news, though.
Photo: Netflix
For starters, Futurama has considered its astounding run with another 360 million viewer minutes.
Much of the credit goes to the new episodes rather than the back catalog, as Futurama rarely charts when it only streams reruns.
Photo: Hulu
Even so, this has been a very good season for Futurama, which should create some word-of-mouth and add to the brand’s value as catalog content.
About the Murders
Then, we have the other big story of the week, which is the triumphant return of Only Murders in the Building.
You know how I just said Futurama was having a good season? The season premiere of Only Murders was pretty much perfect television.
Photo: Hulu
So, while shows like this typically drop after the first week, I don’t expect a significant decline in this case, since the episodes are so good.
My wife and I are watching weekly, and we don’t do that as a rule.
Photo: Hulu/Disney
In terms of numbers, Only Murders claimed 460 million minutes, making it one of the top five Originals for the week.
Three of the other four titles were on Netflix, while #1 was The Rings of Power.
Photo: Amazon Prime Video
So, Only Murders performed extraordinarily well, all things considered.
The other noteworthy thing is that Hulu is airing episodes weekly rather than as a binge. That’s the same release pattern as Futurama, but it’s the opposite of The Bear.
Photo: FX
Thus, Only Murders should have more staying power on the charts.
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